OTTAWA Air Canada pushed back at its critics on social media Wednesday who complained the company gouged RCMP and other law enforcement officers flying to the Moncton funerals of three slain Mounties.

The airline says it offered a 30 per cent discount on commercial fares to the RCMP to distribute to its people travelling to the funeral, added an extra Toronto-Moncton commercial flight to increase capacity, and put on two free charter flights from Toronto and Ottawa to Moncton.

The service costs of those charters were donated by employees and the fuel cost donated by "a partner," says Air Canada, which at first said it was reluctant to shift focus off the Moncton tragedy but was facing inaccurate information spreading online.

One commenter posted to the Toronto Star's Facebook page that the airline charged "$725 one-way" in contrast to lower fares of $195-$295 later in the week, but "could have flown those officers for free and never come close to affecting their bottom line. . . . This is a disgrace. . . . Shame on Air Canada."

Peter Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the airline, told the Star in an interview Wednesday there was a range of low fares from $295 and up available to officers travelling to Moncton. He said the fares compared favourably to Air Canada's competitors, adding a bus costs $185 from Moncton to Toronto. The airline's flights, even before the Moncton funerals, were already booked at record high rates of 80 per cent, he said.

It was not immediately clear how many officers used the 30 per cent discount.

Tuesday's regimental funerals drew thousands of officers — including about 1,300 Mounties — from across Canada and the U.S. to Moncton.

On Tuesday, Fitzpatrick said, Air Canada operated two charter flights with Airbus A319 aircraft (which seat up to 156 passengers) from Toronto and Ottawa to Moncton, N.B. "to accommodate law enforcement officers travelling to pay their respects to their colleagues who recently lost their lives in the line of duty."

"Air Canada employees associated with these charters, both from the operation and behind the scenes, volunteered their support while our industry partners including the associated airport authorities, our caterer and Nav Canada waived their fees and costs associated with these special flights to be able to offer the RCMP transportation at no cost."

"In addition to the two charter flights, we added an extra scheduled flight to Moncton, and we facilitated commercial travel arrangements for additional law enforcement personnel travelling by making lower fares available to them for last minute travel to Moncton and nearby airports in New Brunswick."

Torstar News Service

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(8) Comments

By gfuge13|JUNE 13, 2014 11:07 AM

Or maybe it stands for "truth," which is not what most people who are grieving want to hear.

Is it reasonable to expect "breaking news" soon will report that most hotels and motels, within 100 km gouged their much needed clientel which happen to be funeral attendees that week, by charging them in-season rates?

@B @Margaret No one forced them to become RCMP officers. They very well know what they are signing up for. Soldiers put their lives on the line. Police in this country very rarely put their life on the line. But yet police get a grand funeral and soldiers don't??? As well @Margaret construction workers life is just as important as a police officers. Police are not special no different than me or you. Except that they get double standard treatment.

I cannot believe that someone would compare construction workers to RCMP officers who put their lives on the line every day to ensure our safety! And I don't think it matters who pays for their transportation - it's very important that they gather to show their support for any fallen officers. My heart goes out to all of them...